Shared Urban Heritage: Traces of Sino-Moslem Malay Descendants from Johor in Mento-Bangka

Abstract

This paper aims to trace back the descendants of Liem Tau Kian (a former minister of Chinese Emperor who saught asylum in Johor State) who established the town of Mento in the early 18th century. Mento is the latest pre-European colonial city in Bangka before the island occupied by British and Dutch in the early 19th century. These descendants migrated to Bangka due to the marriage between Palembang Sultan with one of Lim Thau Kian’s grand daughter, and also due to the interest in tin mining exploration.

The issue raising on this paper concerns about shared urban heritage as the evidence of traces of relationship of these descendants (representing Sino-Moslem Malay from Johor) with people from Bangka, Palembang, Bugis and also Arab. The method to response on the above issue is through observation on historical physical relics including old burial grounds and buildings scattered in old Mento.

The findings tells multicultural paradigm of these shared heritage that were practiced through inter-ethnic marriages, transit, and migration around Malay Peninsula and the archipelago.